Stolen
by finntucker
Summary: Link's childhood friend is kidnapped to a dangerous part of town. He has to collaborate with an unlikely ally to help him find his beloved Zelda.


I'm not sure if I can see the point in this. I mean, I'm still not convinced that I'll ever see her again. I remember how pretty she was on the day I lost her and my heart aches. It hurts so fucking bad. I've noticed that Fi has become sympathetic about it. She curls around my legs and purrs whenever I sit and think about her. At the moment, I'm engrossed in my daily search of the internet and newspapers for her. As always, I've come up empty so far. No missing person's report, either. Like she vanished without a trace. Maybe because she's the mayor's daughter, the investigation is secret. That's probably it.

I close my laptop and glance at my bedside clock. 5:30am. Fantastic. Fi meows at me from the end of my bed and curls against my side. I move my computer to the floor and exhale. I'll have to wait until tomorrow. As always. I drift off into sleep, my last waking thoughts of Zelda.

The night brings about the same nightmare I've been having for weeks. The one where I have to relive the day of her incident. It's the day of my track race. I'm ready to run, and I hear her cry out from the stands, "C'mon, Link! You can do it!" Her support fuels me, and as soon as the blank is fired, I'm sprinting as fast as my feet can carry me. I finish in first, narrowly avoiding the cheating ways of my classmates. After the race, Zelda runs onto the track to congratulate me. She's wearing a cute, lacy white dress, and her hair is done up in ribbons. She looks wonderful. She embraces me with a huge smile on her face. "I knew you could do it!" She exclaims.

Suddenly, the entirety of the student body crowds around me, cheering, and I lose sight of Zelda. I'm lifted up by the throng of kids, just in time to catch a glimpse of the lacy dress disappear behind the bleachers. The last time I saw her.

I wake up with a bad taste in my mouth. I feel numb, like my limbs are refusing to move. It's been four months. She can't have left of her own volition. She loves this town, almost as much as her father does. She wouldn't just leave. After a while, I force myself out of bed and into some jeans and a T-shirt. Fi stirs from her place on my bed and stretches out, yawning a quiet meow. I smile at her, patting her head a few times and letting loose a yawn of my own. Three hours of sleep will do that to you pretty easily. I pull my hoodie around my shoulders and shuffle downstairs, where my grandmother is drinking a coffee quietly.

She looks up, and an expression of sympathy crosses her features. "Good morning, Link," she smiles sweetly, setting her mug down and patting the chair next to her. Thank god it's a Saturday, or I'd be in a hurry. I sit and she reaches up to ruffle my hair. "How did you sleep, pumpkin?"

I roll my eyes at the childish nickname and smile weakly back at her. I hold up three fingers, and her eyebrows tighten.

"Link…" She sighs, before pulling her coffee closer to herself and suddenly looking very serious. I thought she'd gotten used to the poor amount of rest I've been getting. But right now, she seems like she has a real problem with it. I don't blame her. She's always so worried about me, and I don't want her to feel bad. Maybe I should try getting more sleep to lift some weight off her shoulders. "I need to tell you something."

My prediction about what's really going on is shattered by her words. What does she mean? It has to be something really important, I can tell by the way her eyebrows knit together and she meets my gaze directly. I swallow a lump that's suddenly formed in my throat out of nervousness.

"Now, I don't want you running off just yet, but… They've located Zelda." Gram exhales, still not breaking eye contact. I feel the same numb sensation that I experienced this morning. They know where she is. "The mayor called me this morning, figured you'd want to know." When she notices my expression, she quickly adds, "She's alive, Link, don't worry about that."

I've already grasped the table, ready to push off and stand at a moment's notice. Gram puts a hand over my tensed one, looking me right in the eyes again.

"She's been kidnapped. They know where the guy is hiding out, and that's probably where he has her," she sighs, looking down at the table. "Now, the mayor informed me to tell you that you can go see him at any point today, and that your dedication to finding her would be appreciated greatly. He knows how close you two are."

I nod quickly. My phone is in my pocket, I'll call him immediately. No hesitation. I need to find her, I need to rescue her from whatever terrible fucker has her in his custody. She belongs at home, safe and sound, like always. I nod at her, a matching look of seriousness almost mirroring the one she gives me when she looks at me again on my face.

I can tell Gram's even more worried. "Link, be careful. I mean it, I don't need to lose you as well." Her voice is a bit shaken, and I lean over to embrace her.

I grasp her hand, leaning back away from her before giving her forehead a quick kiss and standing. I give her a small smile, one meant to tell her that everything will be alright. Her eyebrows still closely knit, but I can tell she believes me. With that final reassurance, I'm out the door and on my way.

After a while, I'm greeted with the towering doors of the mayor's residence. I knock before entering, figuring since I'm expected, it's alright to just walk in. Someone appears at the top of the steps in the main room. It's the mayor. He looks like he's been getting about as much sleep as I have, and I don't blame him. That's his daughter out there. "Link," he exhales, looking incredibly relieved. The man comes downstairs and looks at me with a grave expression. "We found her, but there's a slight problem."

I raise a brow in question. A problem? I only hope it's one I can solve.

The mayor looks at the ground. "The kidnapper is hiding in… That part of town," he murmurs, looking very upset. That part of town, huh. It's a dark, dirty place shrouded in mystery, that no one in Skyloft ever thought to venture to. There were gangs and violence, drugs and alcohol, all kinds of terrifying things, from what I've heard. The people who have been there only call it the "surface" in a hushed whisper, so as not to… Invoke its wrath. Or something. If Zelda was taken there… I can only imagine what horrors she's seen. My chest tightens in fear and determination. "I myself cannot go, I need to keep watch over the town. Here's where you come in, Link," he begins, and I'm about ready to charge to the surface at any moment. "You and one other person, and you may choose who that is, will have to infiltrate that area and find my daughter. I'll provide you with a weapon for defense. I know how much she means to you, Link. I figured you'd want to be the one to do it."

I nod curtly at this. The mayor has chosen me to find her. Me and… One other person. Who will I take? Zelda is really the only person close enough to me to want to come along. Especially for something as unknown and dangerous as this. Obviously out of the question, though. Just then, I get an idea. An idea I'm really not going to enjoy, but an idea. I blink at Gaepora and point my thumb over my shoulder. He only nods and reaches into his pocket for something. What he pulls out is a switchblade. "Only for defense," he repeats, and sets it in my hand. I nod and turn quickly, exiting his house.

My first order of business is to go home and get Fi. If I'm gone too long she'll try to escape and find me. After a long lecture about safety and a tearful goodbye from Gram, I'm off again, with Fi in my backpack and the switchblade in my back pocket. Next stop is Groose's house. I don't want to do this, really. Groose is a classic example of a high school bully. I just happen to be the target of his well-practiced art. The reason for this is probably why I think he'll be useful. Anyone with a pair of eyes can tell that Groose is infatuated with Zelda. He follows her around like a golden retriever. Anyone with a pair of eyes can also tell that she's not interested. Except for the musclehead himself. I, being so close to Zelda for so many years, am his nemesis, apparently. Based on this, I'm sure he'll go along with me. He's loyal to the mayor and to Zelda. He has to.

I ring the doorbell quickly and step back from the door. It swings open and there's Groose, towering over me in stature. "Oh. Pipsqueak. The hell are you doing here?" He asks, an incredulous look on his face. He blinks at me for a moment before seeing the look in my eyes. His sarcastic smirk drops.

Embarrassingly enough, I have to do the little curtsey Zelda does to get my point across. Groose's eyes widen. "Zelda," he breathes, cheeks flushing with determination. "Where is she?" He's already shoving his boots on and I see brass knuckles disappear into his pockets. My only option is to turn and start walking. As I'd planned, Groose follows. "Where are we going?" All I can do is point in the direction I'm headed. Why does he keep asking questions that aren't yes or no? What an idiot. As we get nearer to the surface I can tell he realizes. "Oh shit…" He almost sounds nervous.

The point at which Skyloft turns into the surface is almost like an exact line. You can tell precisely where it begins and the town ends. The buildings are taller, and there are so many of them that from where we're standing it looks like a maze. I gulp, pulling my backpack closer and making sure the switchblade is still there. "Someone seriously took Zelda in there…?" Groose asks quietly, and I nod in response. He growls something under his breath that I don't hear. Taking that as confirmation that he'll follow, I take the first step into the surface.


End file.
